ORLANDO, Fla. – Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings is denying claims that his staff did not fully cooperate with an audit by the state’s DOGE team earlier this month.
On Wednesday, Gov. Ron DeSantis and Chief Financial Officer Blaise Ingoglia announced the state would issue investigative subpoenas for county employees.
The county confirms 16 county employees were served subpoenas.
After an event on Thursday, Demings said there was no evidence to support the state’s allegations.
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“There has not been any direction from myself or any senior leadership to our employees to hide information or any of that,” Demings said.
Ingoglia said his office is investigating whether county staff withheld or altered documents related to five diversity, equity and inclusion grants. He suggested the county may have renamed files to prevent disclosure.
[WATCH: Florida CFO announces subpoenas for Orange County amid DOGE audit issues]
Demings said his staff has told him that they answered any questions and provided information that has been requested by the DOGE team.
“If there are any employees that did something where they didn’t maintain records or produce records, then that’s on the employees, but I doubt very seriously that is a widespread thing that is happening in this case,” Demings said.
The mayor also took issue with the motivation behind the investigation and claims by the state.
“This whole process has been tainted at this point, because they’ve already tried and convicted Orange County before they’ve ever completed their investigation,” Demings said. “When that happens, you know this is politically motivated. Something else is motivating that.”
Ingoglia said there were six grants related to DEI that the county gave out that have missing emails. It’s estimated the grants are worth just more than $500,000. They were identified as follows:
- The Black History Project — $50,000 annually
- Contract Term: Jan. 1, 2024 - Dec. 31, 2025
- Central Florida Urban League, Inc. — $100,000 annually
- Contract Term: Jan. 1, 2023 - Dec. 31, 2025
- Zebra Youth, Inc. — Multiple contracts
- Contract Term: July 1, 2020 - Dec. 31, 2023 ($100,000 annually)
- Contract Term: July 1, 2021 - Sept. 30, 2024 ($75,000 annually)
- Contract Term: Oct. 1, 2024 - Sept. 20, 2027 ($75,000 annually)
- Caribbean Community Connections of Orlando, Inc. — $50,000 annually
- Contract Term: Oct. 1, 2024 - Sept. 30, 2026
- Orlando Youth Alliance, Inc. — $35,000 annually
- Contract Term: Oct. 1, 2023 - Sept. 30, 2025
- Stono Institute for Freedom, Justice, and Security, Inc. — $100,000 annually
- Contract Term: Jan. 1, 2023 - Dec. 31, 2024
Ingoglia is issuing the investigative subpoenas to the county government, including to county employees who may have been involved with DEI grant programs.
One of the subpoenas was issued to County Attorney Jeffrey Newton, who was told to produce certain records involving DEI- and climate-related policies and grants by Sept. 8.
Orange County Commissioner Mayra Uribe welcomed the subpoenas, saying that transparency is essential.
“I want to be hopeful and believe that we were transparent and honest,” she said. “If someone manipulated this process, it is very wrong and unacceptable.”
In July, DOGE began notifying specific county and city governments that they would be subjected to audits and would be required to open their books and facilities to DOGE teams.
Orange County received its letter on July 24, and was audited on Aug. 5 and 6.
The DOGE team targeted specific areas of Orange County’s budget:
- Procurement and contracting, including all contracts and procurements in excess of $10,000.
- Personnel Compensation, including pay, overtime and bonuses for all employees from 2019 to the present, along with employment records.
- Property management, including records of all tangible property, any sales, any county-owned property leased to another group, and expenditures on renovations. The state is also asking for records specifically related to the Orange County Multicultural Center in Pine Hills.
- Utilities, including all utility rate studies.
- Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, including all jobs since Jan. 1, 2020, that had a duty to advance DEI, any training related to DEI or purported “implicit bias,” and any programs or grants that targeted specific groups.
- A category called “Green New Deal,” which looks to be about any environmental or green energy programs supported by the county, or the county’s goal of reducing its greenhouse gas emissions by 30% by 2030. It includes documents on purchasing EV infrastructure or vehicles, including solar power systems, and records on training related to climate change, battery-operated vehicles or solar power.
- Grants and other spending, requesting all records related to grants made to non-governmental organizations, vehicle allowances and public Wi-Fi services.
- Transportation, including documents on traffic calming devices, and on bicycle lanes, trails or infrastructure.
- And finally, Homeless Services, including direct spending by the county, grants to other groups and the county’s efforts to measure the programs’ effectiveness.
[READ Florida’s original DOGE letter to Orange County]